Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova, AzerNews Staff Writer

Azerbaijan needs to increase family psychology practice, an official of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs (SCFWCA) told AzerNews while commenting on the rising child suicide rate in the country.

Nermin Guliyeva, senior adviser for the Children Problems Department, said children, especially teenagers, react more emotionally to problems and that could be the reason for committing suicide. Children are more susceptible to the idea of taking their lives because of their parents' divorce, problems at school and challenges in communication with their peers.

The majority of child suicides are committed during the teenage period, Guliyeva said.

According to her, during this period drastic changes occur, including the child's appearance, personality and behavioral transformations. Too much information from television, the internet and their surroundings often diverts children from making the right decisions. Parents, teachers and school psychiatrists should take care of and lead children to the right path at this age.

Child suicide bids rise

SCFWCA deputy chairperson, MP Aynur Sofiyeva, said earlier that child suicides jumped to 29 cases in the first six months of 2012, while last year 28 cases were registered.

Sofiyeva said the cause of child suicides is a psychological problem based on domestic violence. 87 cases of violence against children were registered in 2011 and 19 such cases were reported in the first half of 2012.

These figures point to problems with enforcement of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Law and poor public awareness on the issue, Sofiyeva added.

Governmental help

Although there is no special governmental program on suicide rate reduction, Azerbaijan's legislation and Criminal Code have enough clauses to prevent this tendency, Nermin Guliyeva said.

The recently developed strategy on Azerbaijani population's mental health will be a new step in addressing many mental problems, including suicide and psychological matters.

The SCFWCA runs child and family support centers in 11 regions of the country to reveal and solve children's problems, monitor and support troubled families.

Furthermore, these centers identify people of the risk group and hold trainings, seminars, special courses on rehabilitation of low-income families, and enlighten people on children's rights.

Additionally, the new legislation, which will include proposals from NGOs, is being developed to protect child rights, increase parental responsibility and encourage passage of relevant legislation, Guliyeva noted.

Expert opinion

Women Crisis Center psychotherapist Azad Isazadeh says that though the number of suicides in Azerbaijan has risen, it is still not as high as that in other countries.

Presently Russia has alarming statistics on suicides among vulnerable children, leading this sad list in Europe.

Isazadeh cited an increasing tendency in "young suicides", which should be a subject of fundamental researches to resolve the problem. Isazadeh added that teenagers are more suicidal.

SCFWCA's Nermin Guliyeva said the reason for teenage girls' killing themselves is often early or forced marriage. There are special amendments to Azerbaijan's Criminal Code due to this fact.

According to an article of the Criminal Code, enforcing underage teenagers to marry is punishable by a fine in the amount of 3,000-4,000 manats (about $3,825-$5,100) or four years' imprisonment.

According to psychiatrist Fuad Ismayilov, hotlines, crisis services and centers and support groups could help to reduce suicide cases in the country. Moreover, the government should provide psychological help in secondary and high schools and hospitals.

According to NGO Children Help Line center, more calls for help came from children aged between 14 and 17. The center was established in February 2010 to provide psychological and legal advice to people under 18 and their parents.

Gulnar Agayeva, the center's director, told AzerNews that approximately 4,200 calls came to the hotline since its opening, but only 6-7 of them were related to suicidal children.

Phone calls related to suicides are also rare for hotlines designated for Russian children. According to RIA Novosti news agency, only 0.5 percent of children hotline calls dealt with suicides last year, which makes 93 calls.

The number of suicidal children's phone calls in Europe is higher, which helps to reduce child suicide rates. This necessitates better awareness of children on this issue of vital importance.